American Hustle, 12 Years a Slave top Golden Globes

The hilariously intriguing scenes depicted in the trailer, such as this one, where McConaughuey encourages DiCaprio to hum and thum his chest in a restruant, hint at a interesting and engaging movie.

American Hustle won big at the Golden Globes Sunday, while harrowing drama 12 Years a Slave took the coveted best drama prize, fuelling buzz ahead of the all-important Oscars.

Hustle, the stylish crime caper by director David O Russell, took best musical/comedy film and two acting awards, while the critically-acclaimed Slave had to make do with the one big prize.

Hollywood turned out in their red-carpet finest for the 71st annual Golden Globes, tinseltown's biggest honours fest before the Academy Awards in March -- and a key indicator as to who could be tipped to take home Oscars.

Australian Cate Blanchett won best drama actress for Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine and Matthew McConaughey triumphed for best drama actor in Dallas Buyers Club.

The Wolf of Wall Street star Leonardo DiCaprio and Amy Adams from Hustle won the top acting awards in the musical/comedy category.

Best director went to Mexican Alfonso Cuaron for spectacular 3D space drama Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts stranded in orbit after a space station accident.

On the small screen, cult series Breaking Bad took the best drama series crown and best drama actor Globe for Bryan Cranston, while best TV movie or mini-series went to Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra.

Blanchett paid tribute to Woody Allen, who also received the Cecil B DeMille award for lifetime achievement at the Globes -- accepted on his behalf by Diane Keaton. "People like me are in his slipstream picking up these heavy things that make biceps look great," said Blanchett.

There was a near disaster just hours before the show began, when a sprinkler malfunctioned and soaked a large part of the red carpet outside the Beverly Hilton Hotel, but workers quickly mopped up the mess.

In their opening skit, comedy stars Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, hosting the show for the second year, made fun of Clooney -- who sacrifices himself to save Bullock's life in Gravity.

"It's the story of how George Clooney would rather float away into space and die than spend one more minute with a woman his own age," said Fey.

The first prize of the night went to Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence for her supporting role in American Hustle, inspired by an FBI sting operation in the 1970s known as ABSCAM. The Oscar-winning 23-year-old said she hopes to do more than act.

"I would love to direct one day, but I don't want to suck. I want to keep learning," Lawrence told reporters backstage. Adams took best actress for her role in the movie, which also won nominations for Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper.

But Bale was beaten by DiCaprio in the best musical/comedy actor category, won by the Titanic star for Martin Scorsese's epic about greed in the world of high finance.

And Cooper was defeated by Jared Leto, who took best supporting actor for his portrayal of a transgender woman suffering from AIDS in Dallas Buyers Club.

Based on a true story, Dallas Buyers Club stars McConaughey as an AIDS sufferer who smuggles drugs for other patients to treat the HIV virus in the early days of the disease in the 1980s.

The night featured some snubs: among those going home empty-handed were Nebraska which had five nods, Captain Phillips with four, and Inside Llewyn Davis and Philomena with three each.

Best foreign film went to Italian Paolo Sorrentino's The Great Beauty, defeating the Cannes-winning Blue is the Warmest Color as well as The Hunt, The Past and The Wind Rises.

The Globes are run by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), and voted on by barely 80 journalists -- in contrast to the Oscars, chosen by 6,000 members of the prestigious Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

American Hustle and 12 Years a Slave have had a series of boosts in recent weeks, winning nominations from the Producers Guild of America (PGA) and the Directors Guild of America (DGA).

In the last 10 years, all but one of the winners of the DGA's top prize went on to win the best director Oscar.

Nominations for the Oscars will be announced on Thursday. The Academy Awards will be held on March 2.

CinemaBEST DRAMA: 12 Years a Slave

BEST COMEDY OR MUSICAL: American Hustle

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA: Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA: Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY OR MUSICAL: Leonardo DiCaprio for The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY OR MUSICAL: Amy Adams for American Hustle

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jennifer Lawrence for American Hustle

BEST DIRECTOR: Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: The Great Beauty

BEST ANIMATED FILM: Frozen

BEST SCREENPLAY: Spike Jonze for Her

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Alex Ebert for All Is Lost

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: Ordinary Love for Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

CECIL B DEMILLE AWARD: Woody Allen

Television

BEST DRAMA SERIES: Breaking Bad

BEST COMEDY SERIES: Brooklyn Nine-Nine

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA: Bryan Cranston for Breaking Bad

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA: Robin Wright for House of Cards

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY: Andy Samberg for Brooklyn Nine-Nine

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY: Amy Poehler for Parks and Recreation

BEST TV FILM OR MINISERIES: Behind the Candelabra

BEST ACTOR, MINISERIES/TELEVISION MOVIE: Michael Douglas for Behind the Candelabra

BEST ACTRESS, MINISERIES/TELEVISION MOVIE: Elisabeth Moss for Top of the Lake